Related

As with all early warnings, this one, too, will prompt a momentary chill throughout British Columbia and then, in a week or two, its memory will slip into the black hole of the collective consciousness where all scary things go to be ignored.

I know this because, three days after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook our coast around 8 p.m. on Saturday — so much so that the glass in my front door, some 800 kilometres away from the epicentre, rattled so hard it roused me from a TV stupor — I have yet to store in a safe, accessible place such post-quake survival necessities as a working flashlight, toilet paper, bottled water, purification tablets, rope, garbage bags, warm clothing, blankets, waterproof matches, money, first aid kit, radio with fresh batteries, fire extinguisher, crowbar, portable toilet, a list of emergency phone numbers and meeting places for separated family members and, oh, a phone that will be charged and working when The Big One hits.

Actually, that’s not quite true. I have a little kit — essentially a scratchy wool blanket wrapped around some Band-Aids and a tube of Polysporin — and I’m pretty sure it’s in the back of a closet under a pile of stuffed animals.

Oh, I have plans to do the real thing. And I bet you do, too. I bet, like me, you’ve had those plans for years. And I bet, like me, you’ll still have those plans a year from now.

Because while there are some among us who are Boy-Scout prepared with perfectly packed kits and emergency escape plans and enough astronaut soup and beef jerky to survive for weeks in the cellar, most of us aren’t and never will be.

It’s not because we’re cocky, or don’t believe that the ground beneath us is perpetually on the brink of splitting in two. We’re smart enough to trust all the scientists, geologists and assorted seismic experts who’ve been warning us for decades that we’re long overdue for a devastating quake, their dire prognosis based on relentless tracking of the fault lines and shifting subterranean tectonic plates snaking up the west coast of North America like undulating spines of potential disaster.

Saturday’s shaker was one of the biggest local quakes in recent years, and the tsunami warning that followed — along with stories of islanders heading for higher ground while the aftershocks kept chandeliers swinging — reignited the conversation about how we should be more ready than we surely are.

So why aren’t we? Why aren’t we prepared to batten down the hatches? Why do we have earthquake fatigue?

Perhaps The Big One is just too big to fathom.

Perhaps because in all the finger-wagging about its inevitability, there remains something rather random and primeval about earthquakes, something that can’t be controlled no matter our efforts.

Perhaps it’s because we feel helpless, able only to wrap our heads around the hope that we’ll be with family and in a safe place when The Big One hits, even knowing that the chances of that are slim. We might be at work, our kids at school, our grandkids on the other side of town. Or maybe we’ll be shopping in Old Navy at Metrotown, or pulling into an underground parking garage, or heading skyward in an elevator, facing a fallen bridge or collapsed tunnel or impassable roadway between ourselves and the hot water heater that should be strapped to the wall at home.

Mother Nature is a fickle mistress, beautiful, wild and ruthless, and never to be trusted. We cannot tame her, and aside from some rudimentary precautions — seismic upgrading and earthquake kits, for instance — we are forever at her mercy.

Yes, we should all take personal responsibility for our emergency preparedness and heed the sage advice in the column published Monday by Sun columnist Stephen Hume, whose exasperation with our lack of individual readiness is palpable, and justified.

And no, you shouldn’t trust the lead of people like me, much less that of another columnist colleague, Pete McMartin, who was in the baseball stadium in Oakland, Calf. covering the World Series when a 1989 quake shook the San Francisco Bay area, and whose coverage of the aftermath was a gripping ringside seat to the havoc and deadly destruction that ensued.

When I asked Pete, a thoughtful man not unaware of his own mortality, if he has an earthquake survival kit at home, he emailed this reply on Monday:

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Saskatoon loves its Christmas lights. The Enchanted Forest draws thousands of vehicles each week. The late Bob Hinitt worked for months building his light display, which drew thousands of cars each year to Wiggins Avenue. And Scott Lambie on Clinkskill Drive has continued the tradition with more than 70,000 dancing lights (up from 50,000 last […]

When it comes to gift giving, they say it’s the thought that counts. But many are wondering if Mayor Drew Dilkens was thinking at all when he gave Olympic superstar Michael Phelps — whose battles with booze are well known — a big bottle of Canadian Club whisky.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.